Clarke won the Broadcasting Press Guild broadcaster of the year award in 2001. He wrote a biography of the writer and journalist Alistair Cooke and a social history of Britain in the second half of the 20th century entitled The Shadow of a Nation: How Celebrity Destroyed Britain.

In December 2005, it was announced that Clarke was suffering from cancer[3] and he subsequently had surgery which entailed the loss of his left leg.[4] During this time he documented his experiences with the disease for an audio diary that was broadcast on Radio 4 in June 2006.

Clarke returned to hosting The World at One programme in August 2006, but his last appearance was on 12 September. He died on 23 November 2006.[5]

In 2007, the BBC created the Nick Clarke Award to celebrate and recognise the best broadcast interview of the year, which is awarded annually at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.[6] Following his death, friends from university established the 'Nick Clarke Prize'.